Chudzinski press conf. transcript - 7/29

Opening statement: “We will start out with a medical report. Josh Gordon had some patella tendinitis in his knee. He started out, tried to push through it, but we sat him down for the rest of practice. I’m not concerned about it, shouldn’t be too big of a deal. As far as these first five days of practice, I have been real pleased with the progress we’ve made. The competitiveness out there, the guys are working extremely hard. I’m seeing progress in all areas, so I’m really pleased with these first five days. We will have tomorrow where the players will have off. That’s a mandatory off day for the players. Then we will be back Wednesday and go full pads.”

On what he likes about John Greco: “John is one of those three guys that we’re working in the two guard spots. We are rotating those guys around. Unlike the spring where we rotated them almost play-to-play, we are letting those guys have a couple days to really work in and now that we have the pads on, we are really moving them around. John’s a real stable guy; solid player, smart, does all the right things and we are really happy to have him.”

On if Gordon tweaked something in practice: “No, it had just been bothering him. He had gone through a little bit of the individual and it was bothering him enough that we stopped it.”

On reducing the punt-return group: “In some of the thingsin the drills that we work, we will rotate guys through. One day we will get one set and in the next few days we will get another set. So, we haven’t reduced it completely.”

On whether Josh Gordon sitting out is due to the tendinitis: “Today, yes.”

On Jamoris Slaughter sitting out of drills: “Yeah, he’s been out. He is day-to-day. I don’t think he will be out for much longer. It’s a hamstring. Just a separate thing, I am not concerned about it.”

On being okay with interceptions this early in camp: “I am never okay with interceptions, but that is generally. When you are out here and you are asking the guys to learn plays and learn to understand what certain throws are. You want to see them push the envelope out here. This is a little bit different than a game would be. You still, at the same time, do not want to see interceptions, but you do want to see guys make throws and work on the throws that they are going to need to be able to complete within working in the system.”

On the weather so far during camp: “You have to balance things as it gets hotter; the reps are less. This actually works in our favor, where we can get in more reps, particularly this time in camp with the younger guys.”

On Chris Owens: “He’s done a nice job. I am really pleased with our secondary and the job those guys have done. Again, going back, it is a competitive group. I love going over there and watching the one-on-ones with the receivers. They are working. I really see improvement in a technique standpoint and that’s what you’re asking the group to do. They’re dialed in.”

On how effective Greg Little could be in the Red Zone: “Greg has good size and he’s a physical player. With less space down there in the Red Zone, that becomes a premium and can really help.”

On Jordon Norwood catching his attention: “He has. He’s had a good camp so far. He’s made plays. He’s been able to run good routes and able to separate and really caught the ball well. He’s healthy.”

On Josh Cooper playing well: “Josh is well. He is healthy. During the spring time he has battled a couple injuries, so I hadn’t seen a lot of him, but he has done a nice job in there.”

On installing the two-minute drill: “We installed our two-minute drill today. We got a chance to practice that out on the field. The first set, we needed field goals and the second set, we needed touchdowns. Those guys did a nice job. We actually had a kickoff prior to practice to see who would kick with the ones during the two-minute drill. Shayne (Graham), in the pre-practice, had won. I don’t know if you saw the “dueling” kickers that we had.”

On how he felt about the two-minute drill: “Well, it was a mix. There was one or two early that the offense that they did well. The defense ended up stopping the offense down tight later on. So, it’s good to have that back-and-forth. We really want to focus on the situations that come up. We will continue to work those different types of situations where we purposely set up to try to cover everything that can happen at the end of the game.”

On whether he would like his wide receivers to have a mixture of sizes: “I never really had a pre-determined type of receiver. You want a guy who can make plays, get open and separate. That’s all I’m really concerned about. They come in all different sizes. I have been exposed to and been around guys that have been all those different sizes, and successful.”

On whether Josh Gordon will need an MRI: “We will see about that. I am not concerned about it. It doesn’t look to be too serious, but I will let you know tomorrow on that. Obviously, as far as reps, we want our guys to get as many reps as possible, especially our young guys.”

On whether Saturday will be a scrimmage or practice: “It will be basically a practice.”

On if the tight ends were the target in the Red Zone: “Not intentional, those guys are good threats and real good targets down there in those tight spaces. We have a couple guys that have good hands and are weapons down there that we can utilize. It just came up that the coverages and the routes matched. Those guys got the opportunities today.”

On Billy Wynn: “I like Billy. He’s done a good job. He’s got a high motor and very athletic. He’s stepped up and made plays. I’ve seen him on some rushes and he’s really done well.”

On whether Billy Wynn had to put on weight by moving from the 4-3 to the 3-4: “No, he’s able to carry it over from the 4-3 to the 3-4. A lot of the techniques are going to be the same, regardless of the lining of the fronts are. Those guys are utilizing the same techniques as they would in the 4-3.”

On Johnson Bademosi stepping in for Tashaun Gipson: “It’s been good. He’s been able to get more reps these past few days; more opportunities and more snaps. That’s what he needs right now, to be able to get more plays and more reps.”

On the possibility of keeping both kickers: “We’re really looking for one kicker. I am not saying that there is no way we would keep two. Obviously, one is ideal.”

On how the kickers are doing: “It’s a really tight competition. They, both, are doing really well. We will continue to work through that and into the preseason games.”